Crossing the ditch to compete in the Buckby Motors Rally Tasmania, Emma Gilmour ended her 2025 season on a high, with a fifth place finish, alongside co-driver Ben Searcy.
It was always going to be a tough ask, rallying on roads she had never seen before and driving a rally car she’d never sat inside prior to this weekend but Dunedin’s Emma rose to the occasion and relished the challenge.
“I’m really happy with the weekend as we achieved what we set out to accomplish, which was basically having some fun and having a strong finish. Fifth was a real bonus, considering it was a big learning weekend. We played a really smart, safe game and it paid off,” Emma says.
Rallying over two days on the muddy forestry roads around Burnie, on the north-west coast of Tasmania, Emma and Australian navigator Ben, began cautiously in Maximum Motorsport’s Skoda Fabia R5. After special stage four they were sitting in seventh overall and retained this position at the end of the day.
“Although Rally Tasmania was relatively trouble-free as far as rallying goes, we did have a boost issue on Saturday afternoon. It affected our rhythm of increasing speed in the car because it became different to drive and I had to adapt to that.”
By special stage 11 on Sunday, Emma and Ben had moved up to fifth position and at the final fourteenth stage’s completion, they had held on to their top five spot.
“It was really nice for Ben and me to have a solid weekend. I loved the different scenery on the stages and it was a great challenge to be competing on roads that I’d never driven on before.”
Emma adds that the slightly slower recce speed in Australia made for an adjustment in the way she and Ben created their pace notes. The second pass over the repeated stages saw them gain speed and confidence.
The rally was not without its dramas as, with three stages to go, Ben’s helmet malfunctioned and he had to quickly modify the touring headset so that they had intercom communication for the remainder of the event.
“Ben did an amazing job as he always does and he never got bothered under stress,” Emma says.
She particularly enjoyed seeing Kiwi compatriots Hayden Paddon and John Kennard secure the Possum Bourne Trophy as the winners of the 2025 EROAD Australian Rally Championship at this final Tasmania-based round.
Driving their Hyundai i20 Rally2, Paddon and Kennard were the second all-New Zealand pairing to win the Australian championship, following Possum Bourne and Craig Vincent who won the ARC title five times, consecutively from 1996 to 1999 and again in 2001, with Bourne also winning the title with co-driver Mark Stacey in 2000 and 2002.
“I can remember the days of Possum rallying and he was a big influence on my early career. It was quite emotional and really special to see Hayden and John win the trophy. I also really appreciated having a whole lot of Kiwi supporters over there waving New Zealand flags on the stages,” Emma says.
She extended a huge thank you to Maximum Motorsport’s Managing Director Dean Herridge for leasing her the Skoda.
“The whole team went out of their way to help me have the best experience possible in Tasmania. I also want to make a special mention to my engineer Reio, who did an amazing job listening to feedback and adjusting the R5 to get the most out of it.”
Dean says: “It was great to have Emma and Ben as part of the team for the weekend. I thought Emma drove a perfectly calculated rally to achieve an impressive fifth outright on debut in Tasmania and in a car that was new to her.
“I think she was a great addition to the ARC field and I hope she’ll consider a return trip to Australia again sometime.”
Emma thanked Buckby Motors Skoda for loaning her a vehicle to use while in Tasmania and PWS Poly Welding Solutions for coming on board as an additional sponsor for this event.
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